Chapter One

Like old celluloid playing in front of her eyes, the mellow glow of the neighborhood lights mixed with the evening fog making the world appear a little less than real. It felt as if she'd played this night before. Deja vu perhaps. Or maybe it was simply something ancient rattling through her chilled slight shoulders. She huddled inside her wool coat and took the steps of the brownstone swiftly. Her key in the lock, she was inside within seconds, setting her sack of groceries on the hall table where it teetered precariously until she had her coat hung on the rack by the door, her gloves and purse on the chair beside it.

On her way through the dining room, she saw the light on the answering machine blinking red, and pushed the button."Dana, this is Nick. We have stuff to talk about. Will you be home tonight? Call me." Her only message, the machine clicked off.

Nick's voice froze her for an instant. Would she be home tonight or not? Would another argument with her soon to be ex-husband be as senseless as all the others, leaving her feeling more empty than she already did? She decided against calling him.

When the phone rang an hour later, she answered without thinking.

"Dana, you're home. Why didn't you call?" She heard Nick's baritone doing its commanding best.

"I didn't feel like talking."

"You know, you said you wanted to do this amicably. We can't really settle anything unless you agree to talk it over."

There was a long pause.

"Dana?"

"I guess I need some space, a little sleep, and not a lot of extra anxiety. I'm starting a new project tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Gordon found me this plum little expose on Ariel Broussard."

"The painter?"

"Yeah, there's supposed to be quite a collection of work that's never been on display. Her husband wants to do a photograph book in conjunction with a showing sometime next year."

"Wow. That does sound like you."

"You see, my life is taking some rosy steps forward," she quipped.

"I wouldn't want anything else. You know even if we are splitting, I do care about you, and maybe in a way what we have will never really be over."

"But we have to pretend it is," Dana said. How easy it would be to warm up to his words, only to get herself tangled in another battle a second later."There are just certain things that you want, that I can't give you. You still dating Ellen?" She changed the subject.

"Yes. And you should probably try getting out socially too. You don't want to work all